If Oswald was the "Patsy" that he said he was a conspiracy theory would fit quite nicely. Who really cared what rifle he had. If the conspiracy was that someone contrived to show Oswald as the lone shooter or if there was no conspiracy then your theory makes perfect sense. That doesn't prove anything at all, it's irrelevant to reaching any kind of conclusion at all.
No, the Carcano is the 500 pound gorilla of this story.
Remember where they were. That town was owned by LBJ and his cronies. If it was moronic that fits too, LBJ was a supreme idiot. There are simply too many loose ends for my satisfaction.
That assumes that LBJ had anything to do with the assassination, and that has been run down every dark alley and come up dry. Plus, LBJ had more enemies in Dallas than friends, and the risk of discovery would be too great for a capital offense. The only reason LBJ was a suspect is because of the Vietnam War where people assume JFK would not have widened US involvement...the same guy who ordered the assassination of Diem, and creating the situation which contributed to the war.
Plus, J. Edgar Hoover was not in anybody's pocket, and didn't like LBJ, and would have had zero problem putting him in the electric chair. This would have been one heck of a feather in his cap.
Don't put me in the hard core CT faction, I'm mostly just very extremely skeptical and to some extent always have been.
Fair enough, and as a reformed JFK CTist I think that if there was a conspiracy of some kind it will not be found in Dealey Plaza. There are enough gray areas with Oswald's life from the time he returned from the Soviet Union to the day he shot the President to find a loose thread to pull on.
BTW: I think you're referring to a .30-06, not a .306
You are correct, I get worked up on this subject.
Let me walk you through my evolution to skeptic.
I went to Dallas, and to the 6th Floor Museum, and instantly realized that Oswald had the best perch, and a ridiculously easy shot. Standing on the sidewalk in front of the Grassy Knoll I realized that a second gunman would have stood out like a lighthouse in even the worst of the photographs of that day. Right off the bat I realized that most of the so-called experts were talking out of their backsides.
This was in 1996, and the National Archives were dumping JFK files into public view every few months, and while the basic fact that Oswald killed JFK didn't change, there was evidence of interference of the Warren Commission's investigation coming from (cue dramatic music) the Attorney General's Office. That's right, RFK shut down lines of inquiry pertaining to Oswald's visit to Mexico City, this is why there is a huge blank spot in the investigation, and fueled rumor of conspiracy by smart people (like you) who smelled a rat.
RFK was covering his own butt, and working to shape his brother's legacy. Their continued covert war on Fidel Castro, and their tacit(or complicit) use of the Mafia to overthrow the Cuban government would have been a big punch in the gut of the American people, and might have landed RFK in prison. It certainly would have finished him politically.
The next thing to consider is that JFK's weakness for women made him much more valuable alive than dead. Example: Judith Exner, one of Kennedy's mistresses.
Exner kept a diary. In August, 1962, guys from General Dynamics broke into her apartment and stole her diary(The guys actually were contracted out from George Wackenhut). General Dynamics used the diary to blackmail the Kennedy Administration into giving them the TFX contract.
You probably know the TFX became the F-111, and that the F-111 was built in Fort Worth, Texas.
*source*
http://www.umsl.edu/~thomaskp/jfx.htm
The fact is that JFK's weaknesses made him a prime blackmail target (like our current POTUS), and he was worth more to everyone (the Miliatry Industrial Complex, Hoover, LBJ, and even the mob) alive than dead.
Throw in the fact that his re-election was not a foregone conclusion and you're stuck with no substantive motive to kill JFK.
Finally there is Lee Oswald. The guy was a ticking time bomb looking for a way to get his name in the history books and the front page. He loved being special, the outcast who was smarter than everyone else. In the Marines he reads Marx and learns Russian. He defects to the Soviet Union expecting to become a celebrity, and ends up working in a factory making TV sets. He gets bored and returns home. When he arrives in Texas he wonders where all the reporters are to cover his return. Then he goes after General Walker because he is the biggest name in Texas politics.
Finally JFK comes to Dallas, and the parade rout passes right outside of the building Oswald works in like a gift from the gods. Oswald began stalking buildings around Dealey Plaza looking for roof access before surrendering to the fact that he would have to shoot from his place of employment. Had he found another spot he might have gotten away with it. Think about it, he kills the President from another building, slips into the crowd, and comes back from lunch to work in the Schoolbook Depository, and watch DPD and the Feds go nuts on the street below. Or maybe he gets caught with the rifle in his hands, who knows?
